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We are on day 3 of Reno citizenship. There are several things I'm looking for in the area, if anyone has any pointers for any of the following it would be most appreciated:
Farmer's Markets - which ones are good/not good and why
Houseplants - good but hopefully not too expensive places to buy houseplants and gardening supplies. I have south facing windows that must be filled with a wall of green!
Buddhist activities/organizations - where and when?
Discount/affordable groceries - I miss Aldi!
deep water aerobics classes, preferably sponsored by parks and rec.
Options for yoga, tai-chi, gym access for senior/disabled folks, again preferably via community resources.
Biking as the only form of transportation - am I likely to have trouble with the local gendarmerie over an electric assist tricycle? How about an electric assist quadcycle? How about the ELF velomobile? I am PARTICULARLY concerned about the ELF as they insist on advertising it will go 30 mph which makes it not street legal as a human powered cycle. Electric assist vehicles are supposed to be rated at 25mph tops on flat terrain for something like 750 yards. The ELF allegedly reaches 30 mph with the electric assist PLUS the human pedaling - allegedly it won't go over 25 mph on the battery alone. But they don't state that on the website so I'm afraid if I get stopped driving it around and someone looks it up on the website and they see "30 mph" they will not allow me to use it on the streets any more. I'm pretty concerned about any electric assist human powered vehicle that doesn't look like a bike - technically legal and what the officer in front of you thinks is legal don't always coincide, and any electric assist tri- or quad-cycle is a big investment to then turn around and lose access to because of a misperception. What I eventually end up buying so I can get around here will be determined by what will pass as street legal.
Arts and crafts classes/facilities in the area. I am aware of the Wedge studio and will be joining that. If there are other opportunities to get access to classes and/or studio space for things like stained glass work or woodworking that would be nice. I'm just coming from a place where they had 2 community art studios with facilities and equipment for drawing, painting, pottery, stained glass, weaving, wood working with most of the common power tools except a joiner, and lots of other stuff. How much of that can be replaced with community resources here in Reno?
I can answer the grocery question and the Buddhist question.
Go to WinCo foods for discounted groceries- generally they are the cheapest in my experience, also Grocery Outlet isn't too bad- but watch out for quality and freshness!
There is a Buddhist Temple on 820 Plumas Street. I am unsure of their services, as I've never been there, just strolled by, but it appears quite welcoming and nicely kept.
art classes...try the art museum, and summer classes have already started but there are community education classes thru the county and lots at Truckee Meadows Community College.
Thanks. I had hoped for a real nursery here but so far have been disappointed. I like to pot up my own plants and let them grow - the Moana "nursery" doesn't appear to have greenhouses and the selection of house plants was both limited and expensive. I don't know who would pay $20 for a philodendron in a 3" plastic pot, but I guarantee its not me, LOL!
We will be checking Winco out soon. I have looked at Grocery Outlets current circular and while they do seem to advertise moderately priced to very cheap cuts of meat and poultry, I'm thinking issues of quality and (as you mentioned) freshness are both important considerations. Other things in the circular seemed to range from slightly to WAY more expensive than other local groceries. We will probably stop by there to check it out, but I wonder if it will gain a place on our regular shopping rounds.
I did find 2 Indian grocers (I don't think that was on my list but it should have been, LOL!) so that was good. I'm still looking for reliable sources of moderately priced bird seed - one place appears to be closed on weekends now, and of the other 3 places we went, one was far too high priced, and the other 2 didn't have everything I was looking for. I need to call the place that was closed this weekend and see what their hours are - and maybe they will tell me a few things they have in stock since they were closed when I went out there.
Thanks for the help - it can be tough finding everything you need in a new place, especially when you don't drive!
We are on day 3 of Reno citizenship. There are several things I'm looking for in the area, if anyone has any pointers for any of the following it would be most appreciated:
Farmer's Markets - which ones are good/not good and why
Houseplants - good but hopefully not too expensive places to buy houseplants and gardening supplies. I have south facing windows that must be filled with a wall of green!
Buddhist activities/organizations - where and when?
Discount/affordable groceries - I miss Aldi!
deep water aerobics classes, preferably sponsored by parks and rec.
Options for yoga, tai-chi, gym access for senior/disabled folks, again preferably via community resources.
Biking as the only form of transportation - am I likely to have trouble with the local gendarmerie over an electric assist tricycle? How about an electric assist quadcycle? How about the ELF velomobile? I am PARTICULARLY concerned about the ELF as they insist on advertising it will go 30 mph which makes it not street legal as a human powered cycle. Electric assist vehicles are supposed to be rated at 25mph tops on flat terrain for something like 750 yards. The ELF allegedly reaches 30 mph with the electric assist PLUS the human pedaling - allegedly it won't go over 25 mph on the battery alone. But they don't state that on the website so I'm afraid if I get stopped driving it around and someone looks it up on the website and they see "30 mph" they will not allow me to use it on the streets any more. I'm pretty concerned about any electric assist human powered vehicle that doesn't look like a bike - technically legal and what the officer in front of you thinks is legal don't always coincide, and any electric assist tri- or quad-cycle is a big investment to then turn around and lose access to because of a misperception. What I eventually end up buying so I can get around here will be determined by what will pass as street legal.
Arts and crafts classes/facilities in the area. I am aware of the Wedge studio and will be joining that. If there are other opportunities to get access to classes and/or studio space for things like stained glass work or woodworking that would be nice. I'm just coming from a place where they had 2 community art studios with facilities and equipment for drawing, painting, pottery, stained glass, weaving, wood working with most of the common power tools except a joiner, and lots of other stuff. How much of that can be replaced with community resources here in Reno?
You might also consider subscribing to this email newsletter - Guide to Living, Visiting and Relocating in Reno. It's free, and I've found it useful for basic information on things such as farmers markets, festivals, etc.
Groceries- Winco, Trader Joe's, and two unlikely candidates (both oriented toward the Mexican consumer) Marketon on S. Wells and Food Source on S. Virginia. Both have the cheapest produce in Reno and generally great prices on meat - and of course they both make tortillas in the store =)
Farmer's market- extraordinarily overpriced, I have given up on them. It's a lovely thing to walk around a bunch of stands picking out peaches and apples but when they are 3 or 4 times the price of organic produce sold in local grocery stores there is a problem. I grew up buying food at produce stands and farmer's markets in Northern California and am really disappointed that vendors who are generally driving their produce here from 150 miles away feel justified charging what they do.
Houseplants- mostly overpriced and not great quality, but try the Rail City Garden Center in Sparks
Bird Seed- we buy 20 pound bags for very little $ at Green's feed on North Virginia
I think Green's is where I finally settled on bird seed. Unfortunately, I am now being mobbed by house sparrows instead of the blue jays, mountain bluebirds, quail, finches, and humming birds I was getting before. Apparently I can only feed the humming birds if I don't want to be mobbed by pigeons and house sparrows. There are so many house sparrows mobbing the feeder that they have frightened all the hummingbirds away, as well as all the other birds except pigeons.
So sadly its nyjer feeders, a quail block, and the humming bird feeders and that's it, from now on. And if the house sparrows start mobbing either the quail block or the nyjer feeders, it may be just hummingbirds.
Winco is working out well and I will check out the other places you mention. Marketon was already on my list due to a sale flyer that came in the mail.
I really really really miss Aldi. Many things cost twice as much - I used to get a good quality chicken stock at Aldi for under $1, now it seems to be $2 everywhere for stuff that isn't nearly as good, and is really broth anyway, LOL!
I've not found decent white chocolate (affordably) ANYWHERE yet. TJ's doesn't usually carry it, what they did carry at the one TJs in another town was fake and nasty, and the fake and nasty stuff is nearly all I can find anywhere else. I used to get it at Aldi in a nice thick bar for a dollar or two.
I really really REALLY miss Aldi! I haven't found barley malt syrup anywhere yet either, or Looza juices. Not that Aldi carried the last two things ... but still.
I guess I'm not surprised at high priced farmer's markets in this area, but it turns out there are so MANY of them, I was hoping the competition might keep things more in line. Oh well. I have tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers planted - we'll see if we can beat the first frost or not with late-planted veggies, LOL!
If you invite the moutain jays to your feeders you may be rudely surprised. Although they are very pretty to look at they are very mean, much worse than the sparrows who just out-eat everything else because there are so many. I find that by providing very specific feed I can regulate which species frequent my feeders. The hummers prefer something away from the other birds. I have the seed feeder on one side of the house and the hummingbird feeder 80 feet away. And the hummers will be out of here in a few months anyway.
I've been told that the Winco at the south end of town has better selection than Northtowne. I shop at the south one anyway due to our location so I don't now. Have you tried Amazon.com for the things you can't find locally? Not sure about shipping white chocolate though. Also, if you know the manufacturer you can contact them and see if the product is available locally. There are a few things that I have never been able to find in Reno but we make a trip to Sacramento at least once or twice a year so that's another resource. Just googling Looza juice it looks like the Walmart on 2nd Street carries it. Barley malt syrup you might find at Whole Foods or Trader Joes.
The volume of farmers markets has made no difference over the years to their prices. I gave up on them. I really like to stop at Workman's Farms in Fallon when we go through to pickup some really good produce at reasonable prices. If you watch the sales at Whole Foods you will find some good prices there too, not always organic. There are some good late season tricks to keeping things growing through September here for light frost. And there have been years that I did harvest eggplants and peppers, but only when they were planted in just the right place to maximize the sun and stay warm in the cool nights.
Another place you may want to check out is a $1 food store on South Virginia, across from the mall. A few of my co-workers shop there and swear by it...meat, produce, dairy all $1.
They're actually nowhere near as "pretty" as the "normal" jays back east, plus they're bigger - they're pretty much like blue and grey crows, LOL! But I only feed in small feeders - too small for them to perch on - so they just hop along the ground picking up spilled seed, which is fine with me. I don't mind them. I might, if I were trying to feed from a platform feeder - then they could be a menace. But they haven't ever tried to mob the other birds the way the house sparrows do. I never see more than one or two at a time, and when there are 2 around, they are eying each other with great suspicion and menace, LOL! Too preoccupied with each other to be a problem to the other birds.
I get pigeons feeding from the spillage too and while I'd rather not have them around, there isn't anything else for them to get at. They try pecking at the quail block but so far they haven't made a dent in it. If they become a problem there as well (so far they have not) then there is another sort of quail block that is allegedly made to be too hard for the beaks of most songbirds and pigeons, but still accessible to quail and other wildfowl. I'll give that a try. And if that also fails to stymie the pigeons - I just won't put out a block any more. You can only do what you can do ...
The veggie plants were large plants transplanted into a concrete raised bed at the edge of the patio. South side of the house, they get full sun virtually all day. They will therefore have SOME protection from early night-time frosts - of course it would be better if they had the bulk of the house directly at their back, but then they would be more stressed through the summer months from the extra reflected heat. There are already little eggplants about 1/3rd of the full grown size so I will get at least a few eggplants before things go south (or would early frosts be "going north"? LOL!). I have already harvested chili peppers and bell peppers. Okay, ONE bell pepper. But there is hope yet. There are little green tomatoes all over the tomato vine, so that may squeak a few through before frost kill also. We'll see. Next year things will go in on time. Since we didn't get here until July, that sort of put a crimp in the gardening, LOL!
I've seen that $1 grocery. We were afraid to go in. Not for safety reasons per se, but because its sort of worrisome to think what kind of meat they'd be selling for $1, LOL! The idea of $1 groceries just seems sort of ... wrong. I am guessing that they sell a lot of VERY small portions - which could be a good thing for the elderly who eat much smaller portions, or people who don't have a fridge and basically need to buy one meal at a time.
groceries in Reno are generally no great bargain, I was surprised when I moved here and found that I was paying more across the board for almost every food item than I did in Northern California. I watch grocery outlet for stock it's usually $1 but make sure you check the pull date, some of it is close to expiration. You might also check out Trader Joe's or Whole Foods for your white chocolate? For some reason I can't find good, reasonably priced potatoes anywhere except costco. The potatoes I buy in the grocery stores are usually half rotten inside, Costco has big bags of several varieties of potatoes for about 1/3 the price you pay in local stores.
I think the $1 food place that utsci mentioned is called 99 cent only and is in the 5600 block of South Virginia. It's worth checking out, you won't get $1 steak, but you can find smaller packages of lunch meat, or hot dogs for $1 for the most part I don't bother with the meat, I go there for their canned/packaged goods. Every once in awhile they get 12 ounce jars of Emeril spaghetti sauce which is really good, occasionally they get some nice canned organic fruits and veggies.
I don't know of any tai-chi groups here, my husband looked for one and gave up. He goes to the Aikido dojo instead. Regarding your electric assist vehicle, call DMV and if they aren't helpful (very common) just keep calling back until you get someone on the phone who can answer your questions.
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